Just a teenage crush
by SassandraS
Summary: currently being rewritten. Twins Shinta and Kenta live with their guardian Hiko after a traumatic event in their past. Both boys may be more than they themselves realise as a dark past catches up with them. Yaoi and twincest warning
1. meet the twins

**Just a teenage crush**

WARNING! This story contains YAOI, meaning malexmale relationships. No liky no ready.

You have been warned dramatic drums

Hey, anyone think that Kenshin needs a psychiatrist? Me thinks he has a kind of split personality thingy. So for this story I decided to split them up X

Shinta's wel, Shinta. All that's sweet and good. Kenta's Battousai. Savvy?

Now, on with the story!

Chapter1

Seijuuro Hiko, 13th master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, was stirred from sleep by the smell of coffee. The sweet aroma teased his nostrills and drove away all sleep, so staying in bed seemed superfluous.

Quickly showering (AN mental image of Hiko showering drool ) and dressing, he made way to the small kitchen of his home.

In the kitchen, with his back turned to him, stood a young red-headed boy, wearing a nightshirt that fell to his knees.

Hiko paused for a moment to admire the view. With his long fiery hair that fell past his waist, large violet eyes, slender figure and pale complexion, most would assume Shinta was a girl.

He possessed an allmost devine beauty that made everyone, no matter their age or gender, turn their head to stare at him whenever he passed by.

But looks deceive. No matter how fragile Shinta may look, the boy was not to be underestimated when in battle. He had an amazing stamina and a defence even Hiko himself could barely get through.

Hiko's train of thought was interupted when the coffeemachine started beeping, indicating coffee was ready.

Smiling to himself, Hiko fully entered the kitchen and took his place at the table, which made Shinta look up and notice him.

"Ohayo shishou. Would you like some coffee?"

The boy's radiant smile seemed to brighten the whole room. Hiko nodded and returned the smile.

"Ohayo Shinta-chan. You're up early for your first day of school."

"Someone had to make breakfast and prepare our lunches for this afternoon, ne?"

Always thinking of others. Shinta was the comlete opposite of his brother, in many ways.

Speaking of which...

"Shinta-chan, where's your brother?" Hiko asked suspiciously.

Shinta gave a surprised look at the sudden change in his master.

"Still in bed ofcourse. I was going to wake him later on."

Hiko's eyes narrowed.

"Never mind that. I'll wake that slack-ass."

Rising from his chair, he took his cup of coffee and went to the room Shinta shared with his twin. Shinta's futon was already made. On the other futon another redheaded teen was sprawled out, snoring rather loudly. A smirk was visible on the older man's lips as he raised the scalding cup of coffee.

Kenta was awoken from his sleep rather unpleasently. Jumping 4 feet high, the startled boy gave a yell that scared away all the birds and rodends closest to the little cabin on top of the mountain.

Then he noticed his master looking down on him with a satisfied smirk on his face.

The boy shot the arrogant man his best deathglare. Ofcourse this had no effect at all on Hiko.

If looks could kill, Hiko would've died 10 times a day.

"Get up, baka. It's the first day of school. So get off your lazy ass and make yourself presentable!"

Kenta bared his teeth in anger.

"What'd you do that for, you loony crackpot!!! That's hot!!" he yelled at his master.

"No shit, Sherlock. You think I would've woken you like that if it were cold? That's not even half as much fun. Now get dressed, you insufferable twit. Or you'll be late."

Having said that, the 13th master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu turned and left the room.

"Git." Kenta breathed under his breath. The door opened again and Hiko's head appeared.

"I heard that." And he closed the door again.

Rolling his eyes, Kenta gathered his stuff and took a quick shower.

When he entered the kitchen, both his master and Shinta had already finished their breakfast.

Shinta greeted him a misschievous grin.

"Ohayo nii-chan. Want some more coffee?" Kenta flipped him the bird.

"Jump in a river and drown, Shin. Your turn to shower."

Shinta smiled cheerfully and left. Kenta, mumbling something about brothers and conspiracies, grumpily ate his breakfast, pausing every once in a while to glare at Hiko.

Hiko chuckled. The two boys were obiously brothers, no one could argue that.

They were both small for their sixteen years, both had flaming red hair (though Kenta's was not quite as long. His fell just past his shoulders) and they were absolute geniusses with the sword. But that was were the similarities ended. Kenta would never be mistaken for a female. His narrowed eyes were a rare golden hue, that scared most people. He was an insufferable troublemaker, who got in detention more times than all students put together. To him, rules were made to be broken. But Hiko knew the boy meant no harm. His heart was pure, only scarred. So was Shinta's, but his had contained it's innocence. Even when wielding the sword, differences could be noticed. Kenta was the more agressive one. His attacks were fierce and swift, rarely missing their targets. Shinta on the other hand, was more in control. His attack was more hesitant, but by no means uneffective. His defence however was almost unbreakable, his blocks and counters exceptional.

Hiko enjoyed watching the twins spar. They were both evenly matched because one's weakness was the other's strength. They completed eachother.

Upon re-entering the kitchen, Shinta found his twin and master Hiko involved in a glaring contest. Sighing he stood behind his brother and brushed his hair into a high ponytail, like his.

He knew if he didn't do it, then Kenta would never bother to brush his hair. 'It's just hair. No big deal.' he always said. But Shinta just plain refused to let his brother leave the house looking like some scruffy vagabond. So now the brushing had become some sort of morning ritual. Kenta had even allowed his hair to grow, demanding only that it would remain the lenght it was now in order to avoid looking like a girl. That comment had earned him a clobbering with his brother's shinai.

Kenta stood.

"Well, we better get going then. Come on Shin." He packed his things, glared at his master one last time and walked outside. Shinta giggled

"See you at school shishou. Ja ne." And then he was gone as wel.

Shinta caught up with his twin quickly. Sensing his grumpiness , he decided not to say anything, so they walked the road to the foot of the mountain in complete silence.

Five minutes later though, Kenta broke it.

"That was really hot, you know."

Shinta looked at his brother in surprise, then burst out laughing. Kenta put on his best 'I'm hurt'-look, which caused Shinta to laugh even harder. He calmed down when he noticed Kenta's scowl.

"Sumanu, Ken-chan. But pouting really isn't your thing. When you pull a face like that, you look as if you've got something stuck in your pants."

Kenta rolled his eyes, while Shinta gave in to another fit of giggling.

Looking ahead, they saw they reached the main road at the foot of the mountain.

When they were about to turn right, a horn stopped them. Turning around, they saw a white car (without a roof) with 'aku' imprinted on the front approach them. The car pulled over and they caught sight of a tall boy with spiky brown hair and a pretty girl with long black hair.

"Sano!! Nice wheels. How many banks did ya rob to get hold of this?" Kenta exclaimed.

Sano grinned.

"I didn't rob a single yen, Ken. I've been working this summer solely to be able to get my hands on this baby. Ain't she beautiful?"

The girl next to him, rolled her eyes.

"You'd think he would've bought his girlfriend something nice, but noooooo. He had to go and buy this can on wheels."

"Ah, c'mon Megumi-baby, ya know I love ya. Can't I just buy myself a present once in a while? You'll learn to like her."

Megumi humpfed and turned her attention to the twins.

"So, you two bishonen want a ride? It'll spare your legs."

"Not that we can't handle the walk, but if you insist." They both got in the car.

Sano put his foot down, and the car set off at top speed.

TBC

soooooooooooooo.... whad'ya think? Hate it? Love it? Didn't think much of it? I DON'T CARE!!!!!!! Just send me a review!!! PLEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAASSEEEEEE!!!!


	2. meet the gang

OMG! 6 reviews already?? starts victory dance YAY!! I love you guys!!

Today's the first day of autumn break, which means plenty time for me to write and come up with random silliness! (.X)/

And when I was rereading my story, I suddenly realized I forgot the disclaimer!

SUMANU!!! It won't happen again! I swear!! bows

Enough of that. First, let's thank our reviewers ('our'?? I think Ken-sama's schizophrenia is spreading! .)

I won't do this every chapter. It takes too much space and no-one reads this crap anyway.

Just for this first chapter, I'll make an exception.

**half-breed-demon-fox**: My first reviewer!!! applause I shall keep you in my heart forever!! Glad you liked it! As much as I like yaoi, I'm a fierce Kenshin/Kaoru supporter. No good story without our precious tanuki-chan, ne? Kenta/Kaoru was the perfect solution!

**Dante86**: My dear brother, what a coincidence that we should run into one another even on I suppose I should thank u for the review. As a favour, your ass-kicking today won't be as severe. Consider yourself lucky.

**I like being evil**: YAY! Another Hiko-fan!! I knew I couldn't be the only one in this cold, cruel world! Thanks for the review. Hope you like the next chapter! X

**Riyoko**: Glad you liked my story. I'll try my best to keep updating from time to time!

Thanks for the review!

**Ayumi Ikari**: Thanks for the review. Loved your story BTW.(pure heart) I would've read the other ones as well, but I couldn't read German to save my ass. I failed miserably at school trying to learn that language, even though Germany's my country's neighbour (I'm Belgian ;;)

**Black Angel of Destruction**: Glad you liked it. Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy this chapter

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RUROUNI KENSHIN!!!! THEY'RE NOT MINE. NEVER WERE, NEVER WILL BE. THIS IS JUST FOR FUN, SO DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME TRYING TO SUE ME. BELIEVE ME. IT'S NOT WORTH YOUR TIME.(X)

Now, on with the story!!

**Just a teenage crush**

Chapter 2: Meet the gang

Kaoru Kamiya was not known for her patience. And right now, her patience was tested in an extreme way. The school had informed her that all new students must be present at 7 o'clock. She had been there at 7 o'clock sharp. The secretary had asked her to sit down in the hall and wait for the headmistress to call her into her office. It was now 8.15 and she hadn't moved from her chair. Angrily fiddling with her tie, she waited. And waited.

All this waiting had given her plenty of time to think things over.

Her father owned a dojo here in Kyoto. There he taught Kamiya Kasshin Ryu. She had spend most of her childhood here. But when her mother died when she was 13 years old, her father send her away to her aunt in Tokyo. There she was forced to attend a strict boarding school for girls.

About a month ago, her aunt passed away as well, suffering from the same disease that claimed her mother.

So here she was, back in Kyoto. She briefly wondered if she would meet some of her two friends again. She clearly remembered them. Red-headed twins they were, Shinta and Kenta.

Her father hadn't been too fond of the two boys. He said they were low class and she shouldn't associate with such riffraff. True, the twins were often found in trouble at school, especially Kenta. She had liked him the most. A week before she left, he had even kissed her on the mouth. She remembered her face turning a shade even brighter than his hair.

Unfortunately her father had witnessed the scene. Before Kaoru even realized it, her bags were packed and she was on her way to Tokyo, never being granted the time to say her goodbyes.

She had yet to forgive her father for that.

So occupied she was in her childhood memories, that she failed to notice someone was talking to her. As a result she nearly jumped off of her chair when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Looking up she saw a girl her age with long black hair pulled back in a plait, give her a curious look.

Blushing, Kaoru quickly stood.

"Gomen nasai, I wasn't paying attention."

The girl smiled.

"No big deal. I just came to tell you Hitoshi-san's ready to see you." Kaoru frowned at this.

"About time! I've been sitting here like forever."

The girl giggled.

"Typical. She likes to keep people waiting, so she can easily catch them off guard. You'll get used to it."

Smiling, Kaoru entered the office. A tall woman in her mid-forties was seated behind an enormous desk. She could've been referred to as pretty, if not for the toothy smile that graced her face. It accentuated her rather large front teeth.

"Sit." She commanded in a cheery voice with a stern undertone. Not knowing what to expect, Kaoru quickly obeyed. The woman looked her up before speaking.

"So, you're Kamiya Kaoru, aren't you? Met your father once. Nice chap, don't you agree?

Well Kaoru, I doubt you'll find this school no different than all the other schools you attended before. We have our fair share of nerds, bullies and shitheads all over the place. You will address me as Hitoshi-sama or just hey bitch if you're slightly more daring. If you get into trouble, detention's on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Uniforms are, theoretically speaking obligated, but so far only half of the student body wears them occasionally. Hell, even wouldn't want to wear those things. If you want to see me, make an appointment with my secretary. Here's your lesson schedule, Misao will show you around. Bye now."

Kaoru found herself outside the office once more, facing the girl with the plait, her mouth agape. Obviously trying to contain her laughter the girl approached her.

"I take it your not used to that?"

Slowly coming back to her senses, Kaoru stared at the girl.

"You're kidding, right? That woman is completely mad! I didn't even know it was humanly possible to speak that fast without biting your tongue. I waited over an hour to experience a lunatic at work and now I have to find someone called Misao on my own! I don't even know where to start looking!"

"Well, you could start looking here." The girl smiled broadly.

Kaoru gave her a confused look that made the girl's smile widen.

"Makimachi Misao. At your service." The girl said, giving her a mock salute.

Realizing she was still gaping, Kaoru quickly regained composure.

"Kamiya Kaoru. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. Come on then, Kaoru. We still have 10 minutes before classes start.

If I'm not mistaken our first class is maths. What a way to start the first day of school, ne?"

Laughing, Misao led Kaoru to their first class. Kaoru already liked this girl. Following, she wondered if they would be good friends

* * *

Sweat drops were forming on Sagara Sanosuke's temples. He scowled at his opponent. Concentrate. He must concentrate. The enemy regarded him with a feral grin. Should he attack? Or should he stay put. One wrong move and it was all over. To move in for the kill or to wait for the opportune moment, that was the question. THERE! An opening! He must act quickly. He could almost smell the victory. NOW!!

Sano moved his queen 3 places forward.

"Check, pretty boy." he smirked. Crossing his arms, he leaned backwards in his chair and looked at Shinta with a cocky grin on his face.

Shinta merely yawned.

"Honestly Sano, you couldn't play chess even if you're life depended on it." He moved his knight.

"Checkmate."

Sanosuke couldn't believe what was happening. He had been so close. How could this happen? He would never give up, he would win, he....was still gaping like a fish.

Kenta patted his friend on the shoulder.

"Don't take it so bad, Sano. Chess is a game for intelligent folks. Considering the fact you possess the brain of a bird, you're doing remarkably well."

Not taking that comment very well, Sano replied by lifting his (much) smaller friend by the collar of his T-shirt and to start shaking the life out of him.

"NANI??!! YOU TAKE THAT BACK THIS INSTANT YOU SCRAWNY LITTLE TWIT!!!"

Of course, Kenta was never one to appreciate abuse, be it physically or verbally. So in return he started hitting Sano on the head.

"YOU PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT, COCKSUCKER OR YOU'LL REALLY REGRET IT!!"  
"OH YEAH? WHATCHA GONNA DO? YOU ACTUALLY THINK A LILLYPUTER LIKE YOU SCARES ME? GUESS AGAIN PRETTY BOY!!"

By now the whole class was watching the two friends fighting in earnest. Most lost interest pretty quick. It wasn't as if this particular scene was new to them. Sano and Kenta had been like that ever since they entered school.

Those boys were not known for their good behaviour in class. Au contraire. They were part of a group that was infamous for their regular meetings with Miss Hitoshi and even more for not missing one single day of detention since the first day they set foot in this school.

A tall boy with short black hair and stunning blue eyes, walked calmly over to Shinta, careful to avoid the fighting pair.

"Good to see things haven't changed over summer. I think I would've died of a heart-attack if these two started behaving mature."

Shinta merely smiled serenely at his friend.

"I think we all would, Aoshi. How was your summer? We received your card from America.

What was it like there?"

"Different. But fun for some part. Misao had a great time shopping. But we were on business, so we haven't seen much of the country. Misao's still disappointed that we couldn't make it to Disneyland."

The moment he mentioned business, both their expressions turned serious and the two troublemakers turned their attention to him.

"Found your man?" Kenta enquired, lowering his voice a bit.

"Fairly quick. He never took an alias, so tracking him down was no problem at all. Taking care of him, on the other hand, contained more difficulty. The bastard just wouldn't give up."

Sensing someone approaching, Aoshi stopped speaking. Turning he noticed Megumi walking over to them.

"Hello boys, planning to rule the world again?" she smiled coyly whilst sitting on Sanosuke's lap. Kenta scowled a bit.

"Very funny, kitsune. I wonder what gave us away?" he mocked, wiping the blood of his lip.

"You kids really need to stop that. One day one of you will lose an eye or something.

"Who died and made you my mother?" he exclaimed. Megumi ignored him and turned her attention to Aoshi instead.

"Nice job. You've made it into the newspaper." She handed him a newspaper from the summer. They all gathered around. There was a small article at the bottom of the page.

**American banker dies tragic death**

It didn't say much. Just how the man committed suicide after losing everything he owned due to gambling.

Sano grinned.

"Well, it's a good thing they don't suspect anything."

Aoshi regarded him coolly.

"Of course they don't suspect anything. It took us nearly three hours to clean the whole damn place up. I would be surprised if they even found any evidence at all. I put some hard work into that."

Sano put his hands up in surrender.

"No-one said you didn't. I was just stating the obvious."

Megumi suddenly perked up.

"Hey, there's Misao!"

The others, following her example, all looked in the same direction. Sure enough, their cheery friend was making her way over to them, followed closely by a girl they didn't know.

* * *

Misao stopped in front of a classroom. She turned back to Kaoru.

"I reckon you don't know many people here yet. So I'll introduce you to my friends. But I must warn you, they're a bit weird. But they're really great once you get to know them. I'm sure you'll like them."

Kaoru smiled at her.

"I hope so. If they're anything like you, there shouldn't be a problem. Besides, after the Hitoshi experience I doubt anything could surprise me now."

Beaming, Misao stepped into the classroom. She walked over to the far end of the class where a group was seated. A girl dressed in a blue mini skirt with high leather boots, a black tank top and long black hair waved at them. She was seated on the lap of a tall boy with spiky brown hair. He wore simple black jeans and a white shirt and a red bandana on his head.

When they reached the group Misao immediately pounced a tall black-haired boy dressed fully in black.

"Aoshi-sama!" she exclaimed and started kissing her boyfriend all over his face. Sweat drops forming, Aoshi tried to stop his overenthusiastic girlfriend.

"I'm glad to see you to, you...not do that...stop....stop it now...Misao.....maybe you could...you know....introduce your new friend?"

"Oh yeah, what a great idea Aoshi-sama!" she released a very embarrassed Aoshi, who had to stuff the newspaper in Sano's mouth to stop the git from laughing. She turned back to Kaoru

"Kaoru, these are my friends. This nice piece of ass is my boyfriend Shinomori Aoshi, the one eating the newspaper is Sagara Sanosuke, Sano for friends, the one sitting on his lap is his girl Takani Megumi and the two bishonen in the back are Himura Shinta and Kenta, both single, so you might take your shot with them. Guys, I all want you to meet Kamiya Kaoru."

They all nodded, except for the twins. They exchanged looks. Could this be the Kaoru from before? It had to be. She was looking at them curiously as well. Shinta was the first to break the silence.

"Kaoru? Long time no see. It's been a while, ne?" He smiled at her warmly. Kaoru returned the smile.

"Shinta. Kenta. It's been four years. Frankly I never thought I'd see you two again."

"Oi, so you three know eachother?" Sano asked the obvious question.

"Sure we do." A cold voice answered. Surprised, the whole group turned towards the source, which was Kenta. His golden eyes were narrowed as he stared fiercely at Kaoru.

"We used to be best friends until someone decided to move away without saying goodbye, calling or even leaving a note. In four years time, you never even tried to contact us, didn't you? Not one call. Not even a letter. As if you just vanished."

Kaoru was shocked. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined a welcome like this. Who did he think he was? Judging her like that. He didn't even know what happened. Shock turning to anger she looked right in the fierce golden eyes she used to adore so much.

"You bastard. How dare you judge me like that without even knowing the whole story? Do you honestly thing I wanted to leave without saying goodbye? It's not like my father left me a choice!"

Kenta smirked. "And what about afterwards? How difficult can it be to pick up a phone and call us? Or didn't you think of that?"

"Of course I did baka! But being under constant supervision would complicate things a bit, now wouldn't it. My aunt even took my cell phone!"

"Ever heard about payphone? You could've at least..."

"URUSAI!!" Shinta suddenly yelled, startling everyone in the room. Shinta was known for his high tolerance and rarely raising his voice.

Realizing everyone was staring at him, Shinta blushed and sat back down. He turned to his two arguing friends.

"Shut up, the both of you. Arguing over something that happened so long ago isn't going to settle anything at all. And your childish behaviour isn't gonna help, Ken. But even so, you can't blame him for acting that way, Kaoru. When you didn't show up the next couple of days we went to see your father. He literally slammed the door in our face and told us you didn't want anything to do with us anymore. Since we hadn't heard from you at all, it seemed the only logical explanation. I hope you can understand that."

Tou-san. Again meddling with her life. Meeting Shinta's amethyst gaze, she could read sadness there. For being forced to believe a lie. For believing he lost his childhood friend.

Kaoru bowed her head.

"I understand. But you must believe me as well when I say I did try to contact you two. My aunt just wouldn't allow it. And when she got sick, I was to busy taking care of her.

I tried. I really did." She met Kenta's eyes again. He nodded. He understood.

On that particular moment, Misao decided to jump in.

"Well, now that's settled, I think we should get ready for class. As a matter of fact, it should've already started. Where's the teacher?"

"Waiting for you hormonal teens to settle down and actually start paying attention."

A cool voice answered them. Slowly turning, the group found their suspicions to be true. Their worst nightmare was about to begin.

Hajime Saito

TBC

Pfew. This one just kept going and going. Anyway, keep those reviews coming! Hope you liked it. X


	3. school sucks, right?

Sorry to have made you all wait so long. Had to do lotsa schoolwork, yadda yadda. But now I have a week vacation so I finished this ASAP.

Reviews will be answered at the bottom of the page, so they don't bother as much.

Disclaimer: Could be mine in an altered universe where I rule the world and am extremely good-looking. I DO, however own Hime. I created her all on my own last year. Yippee.

**WARNING**! This is not a nice fic! This is an R-rated story and even if it starts out all happy and funny (or so I hope), later chapters WILL contain rape, child abuse, prostitution, murder, incest, underage sexual activities and teenage pregnancy. So, please, if these topics disturb you, do not, I repeat, DO NOT read any further or flame me. You were warned and nothin you say can make me change my mind. It's my story after all.

So without further ado, here's chapter 3.

**Just a teenage crush**

School sucks, right?

A wolfish grin formed on the teacher's lips.

"As I was saying, you may or may not have noticed that while you were so passionately discussing your oh so dull teenage lives…class has started. So sit your asses down, right now."

He spoke in a smooth and dangerous voice that allowed no disobedience.

They all got up fairly quick and hurried to their places. Some of their fellow students were unsuccessfully trying to hide their snickering.

Kenta and Sano both hit the ones closest to them on the head, which shut them up immediately.

"Detention Mr Himura and Mr Sagara, for bothering your fellow students."

"Annoying prick." Kenta murmered.

"Let's make that a week, why don't we Himura. Apparently summer break didn't do anything to ease that charming temper of yours. Now sit down and pay attention." Saito said without turning around, so he didn't see Kenta giving him the one-fingered salute. When he reached the blackboard, he turned and let his eyes drift over the whole class.

"This year, we'll start with square roots, powers and equations. Exercises you haven't finished in class will be finished at home. Every Monday, I'll test you on the material we've covered. Tardiness will not be tolerated. Is this understood?"

The class mutely nodded. Saito rolled his eyes.

"Ahou. Open your books on page one."

As Saito started explaining square roots, Kaoru's thoughts drifted. She had seen most of this last year already. She was still a bit dazed from her rather stormy encounter with Kenta.

To be honest, she should've seen it coming. Even as a seven-year-old she'd had trouble to get the suspicious boy to trust her. He'd kept pushing her away, both physically and verbally. Even back then he'd already possessed a very colourful vocabulary that'd send a lot of kids home crying. But she'd persisted. And as a result he had slowly accepted her friendship. And just when they were real close friends, her father had made her live with her aunt in Tokyo, causing Kenta's fragile trust to shatter.

Come to think of it, she wondered what happened to him to make him so distrusting. Shinta was not like that at al. In fact, he was TOO trusting.

Maybe it was that man they lived with, the one they called master.

She'd only seen him once and frankly, he had scared the hell out of her.  
True, the huge man with the billowing cape and his menacing attitude would've scared any 9-year old.

Not the twins though. Shinta actually seemed fond of him and Kenta enjoyed taunting and smart-mouthing the man, even though it never went unpunished.

Kaoru had often doubted the man's sanity whenever Kenta would report his latest punishment. Honestly, hanging a kid in a tree, tied and gagged an entire night did seem a bit to much.

Thinking this over she wondered how a man like that could have gotten custody over the twins.

Both would often appear at school covered in bruises and cuts. Yet, whenever a teacher would ask them where they got it, they'd tell they fell or something like that. But Kaoru had always suspected Hiko to be the cause of those.

The most striking however were the almost identical scars they both had on their left cheeks. Kenta's ran from the left side of his eye, across his cheek, to his chin. Strangely, Shinta's was the exact opposite, starting near his nose to his jaw.

If put together, the two scars would represent a cross.

A sharp ringing interrupted her train of thought. One hour had passed already? That was quick. Hurrying to get her stuff together, she noticed Misao and Shinta waiting at the door.  
Misao waved cheerfully, while Shinta kinda stared into space

"Man that was boring. Saito is one of those teachers that treat you like some retarded kid." Misao said.  
Kaoru laughed.

"Believe me, I've had worse. Last year my math teacher spelled out the words because she thought they were so difficult. Difficult words meaning words with more than 5 letters."

Misao raised an eyebrow.

"You're kidding me? And I thought these assholes were bad. Ne, Shinta?" She snapped her fingers in front of his face, causing the boy to jump in surprise and yell: "That's not edible!"

Both Kaoru and Misao stared at him. Realizing his misplaced outburst, Shinta blushed a 100 shades of red.

"Gomen, I was thinking about something."

"Obviously." Kaoru giggled, then looking around her. "Where's the rest of the group by the way?"

"Aoshi and Megumi went to the soda machines. I asked them to get you a diet coke. As for Sano and Kenta, who knows what they're up to. With those two, you never know." Shinta spoke up, unable to hide his smile.

"Troublemakers?" Kaoru asked while the three of them started walking down the hall.

That question caused Misao and Shinta to burst out laughing. Once they'd calmed down enough, Misao was able to choke: "Troublemakers? They make hooligans look like wimps. They surpassed the trouble level 3 years ago, when they came up with the ingenious idea to glue the history teacher to her chair."

"They actually did that? And they're still allowed to run around freely?" Kaoru asked, eyeing Misao sceptically.

"Hon, they did much worse than that. Like, setting fire in the chemistry lab and starting waterballoon fights during class."

"How come they didn't get expelled yet?"

"Because," Shinta answered," Hitoshi-dono is an old friend of shishou and she 's actually quite fond of Kenta."

Misao gave the redhead a look

"Quite fond? Hell, she adores him. Treats him like a long lost son. He can do no wrong in her eyes, no matter how many teachers, students and parents complain."

"Oi, wait up!"

They turned and saw Megumi and Aoshi approaching, holding several drinks. Megumi tossed Shinta three.

"An Ice-Tea for you and diet cokes for the girls. Where are Sano and Kenta? I got them diet cokes."

"NANI! Do I look like a fucking obese pig to you? Why the fuck did you get me a fucking diet coke?"

In the blink of an eye Megumi spun around and slapped the person standing behind her, which was Sano.  
A handprint was slowly beginning to show on his left cheek. Just then, Kenta made himself known from behind Sano.

"Nice aim, kitsune." He observed. "But next time, hit the one responsible instead of the next best innocent bystander."

Grinning like a chesshire cat, he quickly dogded an infuriated Megumi, dancing behind a frozen-to-the-spot Sanosuke.

"Oh, come on honey. Stop acting like that. It couldn't have hurt that much, ne? You're a big boy, surely you can handle more than that?"

Sano slowly focused on Megumi, causing her to stop babbling.

"Meg, next time you do that, you can walk home."

Placing a hand on his cheek, he turned and walked into a classroom, Megumi quickly following.

Kenta winced.  
"Holy fuck. Did you see the size of that handprint? Aren't I the lucky bastard to have avoided that!"

Shinta rolled his eyes and wacked his crazy twin on the head.

"Stop swearing, you'll hurt yourself. That could've been you, you know."

Kenta traced the thin scar that marred his left cheek.  
"Feh, she'll never hit me. I'm too fast for her." Shinta smiled at him. "Show off."

The bell rang and the twins hurried to class.

Trying to keep a straight face, Kaoru turned to Misao. "I seem to recall that not to long ago, you warned me your friends were a bit weird. Well, Misao-chan, I beg to differ. They are absolutely insane."

Misao cracked up after that comment. Even Kaoru could not contain her laughter anymore. Gasping for breath, Misao managed to choke out: "They're not even warmed up. You just wait until lunch."

The rest of the morning passed without much excitement, safe for the chair Kenta threw at a boy called Andrew, for calling him hot-tempered. The poor boy had to be carried off to the school nurse.

Adjusting to this new school was a little harder than Kaoru anticipated. Things were so different from her previous school. Here, the studends were free to talk, dress and act the way they wanted. There were certain rules, but no one seemed to heed them anyway. So far, she'd only seen a handful of studends wearing the school costume, including herself. She felt like such a geek.

Misao was a wonderful guide. She explained the rules, pointed out several studends and teachers and filled her in on the latest gossip. It seemed like the girl was unable to stop talking. Not that Kaoru minded. She had taken a liking to the cheerful girl.

Right now, whilst heading for lunch, Misao was telling her the do's and dont's of the school.

"...,don't buy cookies from the cooking classes, coz you'll never get rid of them otherwise and those cookies have a nasty vomit flavour."

Kaoru made a face which made Misao giggle.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Whenever you need something from the closets, like a broom or whatever, never, I repeat, NEVER open the door without knocking first!" she waved her finger for a dramatic effect.

Kaoru blinked. "Why?"

"Because," Sanosuke snickered, pulling his short redheaded friend into a headlock, "you might run into Kenta here goin' all the way with Hime-chan. Believe me when I say that's not something you want to witness!"

Kenta immediatly pounced on Sano and the two boys started fighting again.

Confused, Kaoru turned to Misao. "Hey, who's Hi..."

"ALL RIGHT, NANCY-BOYS! BREAK UP OR I'LL BE FORCED TO SPANK YOUR SCRAWNY BEHINDS!"

Jumping four feet high at the thundering voice, Kaoru felt something brushing past her and pouncing the boys who'd stopped their fight as soon as they'd heard the voice.  
So now, a weird looking girl was sitting on top of Sano, who was sprawled out on Kenta in a messy and seemingly painful tangle of limbs.

"OUCH!"

"What the...?"

"Hime, gerrof!"

The girl, now known as Hime (which answered Kaoru's earlier question) giggled rather insanely. The crazy sound made Kaoru's toes curl.

As soon as the boys distangled themselves, Hime jumped into Kenta's arms, bride style.

"Hiya Shippou. Miss me?" Kenta rolled his eyes.

"I would if you'd grant me the time, hon. It's only been like 17 hours."

"I did not hear you complaining."

Kenta grinned, remembering quite vividly the reason as to why he hadn't complained. He put he girl on the floor, planted a quick kiss on her lips and resumed walking whilst linking their hands.

Kaoru observed the girl in silence. Hime was ghastly pale, in total contrast with her jet black hair which was pulled into two ponytails and seemed uncombed. She wore black eyeliner and black lipstick, accentuating her paleness even more. Kaoru felt somewhat relieved when she saw that Hime also wore the school uniform, even though it was torn in various places and she wore fishnet stockings underneath.

What struck Kaoru the most however, was how thin the girl was. She reminded Kaoru of anorexia patients she'd seen once.

Resting her gaze on the linked hands of Hime and Kenta, Kaoru turned to Misao.

"Didn't you say Kenta was single?" Misao looked surprised at her question. She contemplated her answer for a few seconds.

"Well, he is. I mean, they're not really dating, you know. Sure they get all snugly and kissy and all that stuff, but it's just for fun. To Hime, Kenta's just a snack in between two relationships. She just broke up with her girlfriend this summer."

Kaoru gaped at her.

"Girlfriend?" Misao smiled at her.

"Yep, girlfriend. She's bisexual." She suddenly looked worried. "That doesn't bother you, does it? I mean, she's really a nice person once you get to know her and all. I mean, not coz... what?" Misao looked confused when Kaoru burst out laughing.

"Stop babbling already, it doesn't bother me. I was just checking I heard you right, that's all.

Misao grinned sheepishly.

"I wasn't babbling."

"Yes you were."

"No, I wasn't"

They continued like this untill the group reached the cafeteria.  
Sano looked around him.  
"Damn. Looks like some first years beat us to our table. What 're we gonna do now?"  
Kenta's head snapped up.

"First years? Our table? Seated? WOOHOO!"

Shinta buried his head in his hands. "Oh no. Here we go again."

The whole group watched as Kenta started running lickety-split towards the table, jumping on it and emitting a dragonlike roar that made the first years jump into the air and face Kenta, who was now sitting cross legged before them with a stupid grin on his face.

"I don't seem to recall me giving you punks permission to seat your sorry asses on our table? Surely there's been a misunderstanding. I expect a full apology and I want you out of my sight."

The group of boys looked at each other confused. They had no idea what the crazy redhead with the spooky golden eyes was talking about. The tallest of them looked at Kenta. The kid didn't look so tough. He stood and glared at Kenta.

"Look, I don't know who you think you are, kid, but we're free to sit wherever we want to. You don't own this table, so beat it!"

Hearing this, Misao, Sano, Megumi and Shinta groaned. This was getting ugly fast. Hime whooped and jumped up and down in delight.

"Get 'em Shippou!"

Kenta's grin turned evil then. He leaned over and took hold of the boy's collar. Eyes ablaze, he whispered in a low, dangerous voice.

"I won't repeat myself, dick. Get lost or you'll seriously regret being born." He leaned even closer, until their noses were almost touching. "And that's a promise." He pushed the boy back in his chair with surprising strength, causing the boy to topple over, chair and all.

The rest of the boys quickly ran over to help their fallen comrade. They set off after looking at Kenta in fear.

Flashing his friends a victory sign, he beckoned them to come over. Shinta seated himself next to his twin.

"Honestly, nii-chan, don't you ever tire of torturing those poor first years?"

"My dear ototo, that's what I LIVE for. It will never cease to amuse me to see that delightful fear reflected on their butt-ugly faces." He let out a content sigh. "And furthermore, I got us our table back. You know, I think we ought to mark it or something. Make it rightfully ours."

He took out a pocket knife and started to carve his name on the table.

"So," Kaoru turned towards Misao, "is the food here edible?"

"Sure it is. This is probably one of the few schools who have a number of cooks working here and where the food doesn't look like a messy grey blob or something. Oh, here's your lunch card by the way." She handed a small green card to Kaoru, who looked at her confused. Misao giggled. "Whenever you take lunch here at school, you go get it and then you 'bleep' your card in the 'bleep-thingy' and at the end of the month, they send you your tab. This way, you won't have to go hungry if you forget your money or your home-made-lunch. Simple really."

"Hell yeah!" Sano exclaimed, startling the two girls. "And today is the first day of school, meaning… PIZZA TIME!" He ran off to wait in line, well shoving away most of those in front of him actually.

5 minutes later they were all seated with a large amount of pizza before them, with the exception of Shinta and Aoshi, who ate their own home-made lunch. Shinta threw Kenta a somewhat hurt look. "I stood up early today to make you your lunch, you know." Kenta swallowed his pizza. "And for that I'm eternally greatful, ototo, but pizza RULES! I'll eat that lunch later on. Here, have some." He handed his brother a slice. Shinta huffed. "No thanks. Not hungry." Kenta shrugged his shoulders and continued to devour his pizza.

Suddenly Hime snapped her head up and stared Kaoru in the eye.

"Oi, whosa gall?"

Kaoru looked at her confused.

"Eh?"

Misao smiled. "She means who's the girl. Hime, this is Kaoru, a new student and old friend of the twins. Kaoru, this is Hime, our crazy gothic friend."

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably under Hime's unfocused gaze. The girl seemed to just stare right through her. "Eh, hi?"

Kenta poked Hime in the ribs. "Oi, be nice." Hime turned to look at him, then at Kaoru, then back at Kenta again, who had resumed stuffing his face, and then glared at Kaoru fiercely before eating again herself.

A bit taken back from the glare she received, Kaoru met Misao's equally confused gaze. Misao shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't explain Hime's behaviour either.

The group chattered away, catching up on each others summer.

"Oi, Kenta, is your motorcycle fixed already?" Sanosuke inquired. Kenta huffed. "No. Those bastards seem to find something else every time I come to pick it up. Apparently my motorcycle was a danger to all who rode it and those around as well." Sano whistled. "That's gonna be one hell of a bill"

"Nah, I worked there over summer, so I won't have to pay as much." He looked up suddenly and noticed the head-mistress coming their way. "Incoming bitch at 12 O'clock."

Miss Hitoshi stopped at their table and smiled her toothy smile.

"Bon appetite, little ones. Hope you had a nice summer?" She turned to Kenta. "I'll let you know that Mr Andrew is fine, Kenta. Other than a rather nasty bump on his head, he suffered no consequences."

Kenta shrugged. "Would've served him right. Calling me hot-tempered. The nerve of some of those blockheads."

"Tell me about it." Hitoshi sighed. "Either way, I'm expecting to see you and your brother in my office after lunch. Okay? Enjoy your meals." She turned to leave.

"Oh and Kenta? No more foodfights. We had a field day last year to clean it all up."

Kenta flashed her a grin.

"No prob. Wasn't planning on it anyway." Hitoshi left the cafeteria.

"Well then, Shin, you heard the wench. Hurry the hell up and finish that sandwich!"

Shinta regarded his half-eaten sandwich and sighed. He closed his lunchbox and stood.

"Done. Not that hungry anyway."  
Kenta frowned, then shrugged. "Whatever." He picked up his backpack and linked his hand with Shinta's.

"Why does Shinta have to go as well? He didn't do anything."

The group remained quiet for a moment at Kaoru's question. It was Megumi who answered.

"It's not our place to tell you. You'll have to ask them. All we can say is that it has nothing to do with Andrew or the first years."

Their attention turned back to the twins. Kenta had shoved a slice of pizza in a boy's face.

"What're you looking at asshole?"

They cracked up.

'Well,' Kaoru thought, watching the twins leave, their hands still entwined, 'this will certainly be an interesting year.'

TBC

Review answers:

**Black angel of destruction:** Thanks for reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter

**Murasaki ½:** Saito seemed like the perfect person to teach maths. Coz no one likes it and this way, it gets a bit more interesting. Thanks for the review.

**Half-breed-demon-fox:** It took me a while, but here's chapter 3. Hope you enjoyed.

**Dante 86**: Asshole. Was da nu were voe review? Toch merci zekers.

**Riyoko:** Not much Hiko in this chapter, but there'll be plenty of Hiko to leave you dehydrated in later chappies.

**Rhiannon3j**: Sorry bout the mistakes. I'm working on it. Hope you enjoyed.

**Noner89**: thanks for reviewing. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Annis pekka**: They are cute aren't they? Let's hope Kenta didn't hear that. I don't think he'd appreciate it. LOL.

**BK FAN**: Kenta would skin you alive if he heard you. But thanks for the review.

**Maree**: hope you still like the story. Thanks for the review.

**Boeboe**: MOKSJE! Kiss kiss kiss. Merci wi poep. T'open da je t later nog gern go lezen e. mo toch al ferm bedankt! En a je de japanse woorden nie versta moe je t mo vragen e. xxx

Feed the author: submit a review!

SassandraS


	4. mind versus heart

I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! I woke up this morning, realised I was still amongs the living and decided I would update my story. Hope everyone likes it! But really, sorry for taking so long. I know how horrible it is to wait for a story to update. But I guess I was to busy in june and july jumping around singing 'I GRADUATED I GRADUATED' to update. Then august was work work work. September was spent juming around and screaming 'OMG I M GOING TO COLLEGE! I M GOING TO COLLEGE!' and the whole of Octobre was wasted with me giggling like a lunatic 'I'm in college! Yippee! I'm studying japanese! Yippee!' so hey, gimme a little credit. Anyhow, enough nagging, ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer: Not… oh for Christs's sake, doesn't everyone know by now I don't own the damn series?

Just a teenage crush

Chapter 4

Miss Hitoshi sat behind her desk, head in her hands. Not a trace was left of her usual toothy smile as she regarded the papers spread out on her desk.

She frowned, trying once again to unravel the mystery handed to her. Sighing, she picked up a rather thick file and read the name imprinted on the front out loud.

"Himura Kenta."

Images of the akai oni, as the staff had dubbed him, and his brother immediately sprang to her mind.  
She'd known the twins a little over ten years now.  
The image of the hysteric, blood covered crying six-year olds was forever burned in her memory.

It was Hiko-san that brought them to her that day. Back then she still worked as a nurse alongside Dr Gensai.  
Hiko had told them he'd found the kids in the arms of a dying woman. Before passing away, the woman had made him promise to take care of the children.  
He never broke that vow.

It had been quite a sight, when Hiko'd arrived at Dr Gensai's small clinic, clutching two kicking and screeching kids under his arms.  
After hours of hard work they'd finally managed to calm the twins down and both were diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.  
They never found out the whole truth about what happened to them, but whatever it was, it scarred the two fragile boys for life.  
Afterwards, Shinta developed a serious bipolar disorder and Kenta had remained extremely aggressive and suspicious of all around him.

Running a hand through her hair, Ms Hitoshi heaved another sigh.  
Before becoming a nurse she'd been a psychologist. So ever since she'd known the twins, she'd helped them with therapy. Though she'd really been the only option. The twins had refused vehemently (resulting in a fair share of flying objects, many tears and some obscenities from Kenta that had shocked even Hiko) to even talk to anyone other than Hiko, Dr Genzai or her.  
She'd kept on treating them, even when she left the clinic to become a school guide counsellor and then headmistress.

So now the twins came to her office every schoolday at noon to talk and to take some medication. Medication was for Shinta mostly.  
The boy needed a daily dose of lithium to stabilize his mood and some antibiotics for his sickle cell anemia.  
Kenta didn't require medication anymore, except when his behaviour became truly out of control.

And out of control did not mean a chair thrown at some kid who was unable to put his foot in his mouth.

But of course, parents didn't understand that.  
After putting away the files and taking a moment to compose herself, Masayo Hitoshi was ready to face yet another angry parent.

'_How much more though, until it'll be enough?'_ she idly wondered.

* * *

"Tada-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIiiima!"

Rubbing her sore toe, Kaoru hopped through the living room into the kitchen, only to find it empty safe for a stray piece of paper on the table. Frowning, she picked it up and read her father's tiny handwriting.

Kaoru  
I'll be home late  
there's some leftover lasagne in the fridge  
I trust you remember how to use the microwave  
see you tomorrow  
Dad

Crumpling the note, Kaoru grit her teeth. Remember how to use the microwave? The nerve of that guy! She oughta…  
True, she wasn't the most skilful person in the world when it came to cooking. In fact, when it came to cooking, she possessed no skills at all. But Kaoru knew VERY well how to use a microwave. Microwaves had practically saved her from famine several times before. She owed her damned LIFE to a damned microwave.  
Her father just never slipped the opportunity to remind her of her awful cooking skills. Neither would the rest of her family for that matter.

She angrily stomped to her room.  
Falling down onto her bed, she heaved a sigh. Today had definitely been an eventful day. Meeting new friends, finding old friends, argue with old friend, getting scolded by the math teacher, receiving multiple death glares from a freaky goth girl, …

Kaoru frowned at that thought. That girl truly mystified her. She barely knew her and apparently Hime'd decided she didn't like her.  
After the vicious glare she'd received at lunch, Hime'd set on ignoring her. Frankly, it made her feel somewhat awkward. Hell, the whole situation made her feel awkward.  
Here, it seemed perfectly normal to call your teachers names to their faces, throw chairs at fellow students and simply disregard any rule ever made. Or rather, it seemed normal when Kenta and Sano did all of this. The rest of the students behaved rather well.

Kaoru remembered her previous school, where the mere mentioning of throwing a chair would have gotten you expelled. There, swearing out loud and simply dressing the way you want was like committing murder.  
She'd always been somewhat of an outcast because of her clumsy attitude and spontaneous outbursts. She'd broken a record on her first day in school by getting herself banned from the kitchens after she'd broken 2 pots, a casserole and somehow managed to burn a hole through a frying pan.

The only girl that had befriended her, had been an outcast as well. Her name was Shura. Kaory remembered her fondly. The girl had spent most of her childhood on a boat with her father, a fisherman.  
Shura, like Kaoru, was disliked by their schoolmates because of her tomboyish nature and flippant remarks.

Kaoru sighed. Shura was the only thing she missed from her time in Tokyo. She ought to call the girl sometime. Or write.

Later maybe. First things first.  
Changing into traditional kendo clothes, she picked up a shinai and made her way to the dojo.  
Training always helped her sort out her thoughts.

* * *

"Tell me again WHY were still waiting?"

Sanosuke gave Kenta an annoyed glare.

"Coz I give you two bitches a ride home. So stop whining already, you annoying prick! My little brother should be here any given minute."  
Kenta huffed. "The brat made it here on his own this morning. So why can't he now?"

Sano turned to him. "Coz his mother drove him this morning. Shut up or else you're walking!"

Before Kenta could respond, he felt someone squeeze his hand gently. Turning, he saw Shinta shaking his head slightly. His eyes softening, Kenta squeezed back and instead gave Sano the one fingered salute.

Sano rolled his eyes and leaned against the hood of the car, his gaze fixed on the entrance of a large building, where kids were strolling out. Amongst them was a black haired boy, looking around, apparently searching for someone. The boy's eyes fell on the group and he made his way over, eyeing them uncertainly.

"Oy, little brother. Hop in already. We're taking a slight detour. We'll be setting Drama Queen and his brother of by their mountain". Yahiko mutely nodded as a red-haired boy elbowed his brother in the stomach.

He settled himself on the backseat, next to another redheaded youth. At first glance, he would have thought this was a girl. As it was, Yahiko had heard Sano talk about his redheaded twin friends, so he knew this teenager was a boy as well. He already knew Megumi, but this was the first time he'd seen the twins for real. He'd heard a lot about them and to be honest, he'd been looking forward to meeting them. From what his brother (well, half-brother actually. They shared the same mother.) had told him, the twins were very well practiced in kendo. He adored kendo but his mother wouldn't let him practice it. Maybe he could get some tips from them or even persuade them to teach him.

The subject of his thoughts were now seated on both sides of him. The one on his left, with the longest hair (_sure this one isn't a girl_?) gave him a bright smile and said: "So, you're Sano's infamous little brother? Nice to finally meet you in person. I'm Shinta."

"Infamous?" Yahiko snorted. "What exactly has that idiot been telling you about me?"

Kenta turned to him with a grin. "I like you, kiddo. I consider anyone calling Sano an idiot a friend of mine."  
Yahiko flinched slightly at the sight of Kenta's piercing golden eyes. _'Is that colour even natural?_' he wondered.  
" I figure you must have a lot of friends then." He said. The twins broke out in laughter, while Sano's head turned red.

"OY! You punks prefer footlabour? Coz I have half a mind to throw you asses outta ma car!"  
"I wonder what Okaa-san's gonna say when she hears you using that kinda language around me." Yahiko grinned. "Bad influence you know."  
Sano was still muttering insults and death threats under his breath when they arrived at the small path that lead to the twins' home on top of the mountain. Cars could not get up there.

Yahiko looked around, apparently confused about the fact that the twins were getting out on an abandonned road, surrounded by forest.  
"Hey, where's your house? There ain't nuthin' here but some trees."

"That's coz we live up the damn mountain kid. Half-hour walk. See ya." They both waved their goodbyes. Sano grumbled some more and the car screeched off.

The walk was pleasant. It always was. They would walk in silence, letting their minds wander, hands entwained.  
The forest was truly breathtaking. The wind danced with the boughs while bringing stories of adventures far away. Of tragedy and comedy. Of faith and lost souls. The soft moans and sighs of the trees would recite the stories into an enchanting melody. Sometimes, when letting their ki mingle with the forest spirit, one of these stories would reach the twins. Not in actual words, but in a subconcious feeling of grief, happiness, excitement or whatever the main feeling in the story was.  
Today, it seemed the forest wasn't sharing anything. The boys felt the forest spirit brush their ki in a gentle welcome, but nothing followed thereafter.

After a while they reached a clearing where the small cabin they lived in stood. Shack would probably suit it better, as it only had 2 small bedrooms, a tiny bathroom, a miniscule kitchen and last but not least, a cramped living room. Neither of them were planning to ever say it out loud though. They'd rather not spend the rest of their teenage lives sleeping outdoors thank you very much. Because that would be their fate should Hiko ever catch the word shack whilst referring to his beloved cabin.

And speak of the devil…

The sight of Hiko standing in front of the door, hands resting on his hips, greeted them. As soon as the two redheads were almost in front of him, he turned, cape billowing and simply said: "Don't take forever."  
Kenta groaned whilst following his brother inside. "Damn, this is gonna be a rough training."  
They entered their room. There was just barely enough place for two futons, (which were rolled up at the moment) a small closet and a desk. Shinta opened the closet and took out some clothes. "What makes you say that?" he inquired as he tossed Kenta some of the clothes. Catching it effortlessly, Kenta began to change. "Because he let us sleep in. Meaning he will train us twice as hard to catch up on the time wasted this morning." He groaned again. "I knew this day was going way too well." He now tied the last knot to his worn hakama. Shinta smiled at his twin. He was dressed in an old gi and hakama as wel. "Hear hear. I vagually recall a certain someone asking Shishou if he could teach him the hidden technique of the Mitsurugi Ryu approximatly 3 times a week. You might know him. Red hair, golden eyes, skinny… Kinda looked like you." Kenta swatted his brother on the head playfully and went to retrieve the two katanas leaning against the wall next to the window.

"Come on, Mr Funny. The longer we keep Shishou waiting, the harder the training."  
Shinta smiled a thousand watt smile and skipped after his brother.

* * *

Shinta carefully tested the water with his toe. He let out a contented sigh. Perfect. Slipping his yukata down his shoulders, he adjusted the towel around his hair and slowly lowered himself into the hot water.

Kenta had been right. Shishou had made them really work up a sweat. After practice, the three of them had been sweaty, smelly and very hungry. So while Hiko and Kenta had grabbed a quick shower, Shinta had made dinner. He preferred a hot bath after practice. It made him feel a heck of a lot cleaner. Not that he minded working up a good sweat. It was oddly liberating. Both his brother and Hiko apparently thought so as well. He remembered the satisfied look on his Shishou's face, with his long bangs clinging to his forehead and his sticky shirt showing off the muscles of his stomach and …

Shinta hissed. 'Whoa boy! You don't wanna explore that thought!' He screwed up his eyes, trying hard to think of something else. Truth of the matter was, Shinta did not want to think of something else. He couldn't quite remember when his infatuation with his Master began. 'Must've been quite awhile ago if I can't even remember when.' He cursed silently. Of all the people to fall in love with, he had to fall for the most arrogant, tallest misantrope who was supposed to fill the role of his surrogate father. Yet Shinta couldn't bring himself to see his Master as a father figure. Especially not when his sweaty clothes clinged to him in places that made Shinta feel all tingly and warm inside.

'Who can blame me though.' He thought. 'It's not like you meet someone like him everyday.'

A mental image of Hiko sprang to his mind. This version of Hiko was peeling his shirt from his sweaty body. Somehow, the tie holding his hair togetter had vanished, so the long raven locks clung to his body seductavily. The mental Hiko turned and held Shinta's gaze with a smoldering obsidian look. Placing his hands on his chest, he began to slowly, very slowly move them downwards, past the well toned muscles of his stomach, and lower, lower still, almost painfully slow untill they finally reached the hem of his pants, his fingers circling the waistband, slipping inside and….

"Shit!"  
He swore out loud this time as he felt a familiar tightening in his lower regions.

Damn, not good.

I should've taken a cold shower. Hang on, cold shower!  
Complete turn off, ne?  
Hiko showering.  
Okay, maybe not.

Damn it! Focus! Think of food! Hamburgers! Hamburgers are good!

Hiko eating a hamburger.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Shinta banged his head against the wall. 'This is absurd! Even when eating a damn hamburger the guy looks sexy!'  
So absorbed in his own misery, he didn't hear the bathroomdoor opening.

"Uhh, Shin? Whatcha yelling for, bro?"  
Shinta snapped his head up and found himself staring into his brother's curious golden gaze. He shook his head and smiled slightly.  
"Nothing really. Just some disturbing thoughts that keep pestering me. Nothing of importance." Kenta grinned at him. "Oh, disturbing thoughts, hmm?" He sat down on the toilet next to the tub and leaned towards his twin, his grin turning evil. "And those disturbing thoughts wouldn't happen to star a certain ravenhaired brute, strutting around naked in that perverted little mind of yours, now would it?"  
Shinta blushed bright red and murmered something under his breath. Kenta leaned a bit closer. "What was that, otouto? I didn't quite catch that last part."  
Shinta glared at him, his blush remaining as he answered. "Only half-naked." Kenta had a triumphant look on his face. "I'm betting my katana he would not have remained as such had I not come in right now. Ne, Shinta-chan? I bet you would've s…"

Kenta never finished that sentence, as Shinta chose that moment to silence his annoying twin in a very effective way. He grabbed him by his arm and shoulder and pulled him into the bath with him. Not seeing that one coming, Kenta was completely taken by surprise and didn't put up a struggle. He did, however, let out a very undignified shriek (which he would fiercely deny later on. Kenta does NOT shriek!)when he found himself fully clothed in the water.

"Ah, fuck Shin. Why the hell d'ya go and do that for!" he glared at his now giggling brother. Shrugging, he quickly got up and stripped bare. Wringing most of the water out, he tossed them in the laundry basket and joined his brother again in the bath. The water was still a pleasant temperature, so he relaxed and regarded his twin with a lazy look. Shinta merely gave him an annoyed look. "Sure, suit yourself. Come and dirty my water, why won't you." Kenta grinned and put his hand to his heart in mock-hurt. "My dear otouto, you afraid I might infect you? Gee, I'm hurt. And here I was thinking, we shared everything with one another." Shinta scowled slightly.  
"You're idea of sharing really is kinda extreme. I can't even have the damn bath to myself." Kenta scoffed and waved that comment away. " No big whoop, Shin. We used to share the same womb. So why whine about a bath?"

Shinta's scowl deepened. Apparently, Kenta had struck a nerve. "It's not just the bath." He spoke in a low voice. "It's everything. Like I said before, you take the whole concept of sharing to a whole new level."  
Kenta narrowed his eyes, all playfulness vanishing from his features. "What exactly are you trying to say, Shinta?" His brother put his face in his hands for awhile and then looked up to smile broadly. "Nothing." He said. "Just…just forget it, alright? Just being silly." He lowered himself into the water, which wasn't as pleasant as it had been moments ago all of a sudden. He stood and made to get out of the bath, when he felt two hands grab his arms and pull him backwards into the water again.

"Oh no you don't." Kenta growled in his brother's ear. "That is not an acceptable answer to my question. Explain yourself." Shinta struggled in his brothers hold.

"Let go, nii-chan."

Kenta merely slipped his arms around his waist and held him even more tight. "Explain" he repeated. Again, Shinta tried to break his brother's hold.

"I told you, there's nothing to explain. It's nothing. Just stupid thoughts and thinking. No reason to get so worked up over nothing, ne? It…"  
Kenta shook him slightly, turning Shinta's head slightly so their eyes met. They stayed like that for awhile, until finally, Shinta surrendered by dropping his gaze.

"It…" he swallowed and tried again. "It confuses me sometimes, the way you treat me. The way you behave when no one's nearby or not looking." He looked up and met Kenta's gaze for a moment. Seeing the look on Kenta's face, he cast his eyes downwards again and continued.

"I mean, it's not supposed to be like this, ne? Sure, siblings share a lot and stuff, but being as intimate as you…we are, istn't that like… I mean don't they call it…" he trailed off, not really able to finish that sentence. He felt Kenta loosen his hold on him and suddenly felt his chin being grabbed rather harshly and his face forced upwards. He flinched slightly at the stern look in those intense golden eyes.

"You never minded." Kenta stated shortly. Shinta tried to look down again, but found it impossible, as Kenta was still forcing his head up.

"Tell me then. Tell me how you truly feel about it. Look me in the eye and tell me truthfully if my touch bothers you, yes or no. If so, I swear I will never lay a hand on you again."

Kenta held his brother's gaze for a few moments. When Shinta failed to answer him, he let a triumphant smirk grace his features.  
"Didn't think so."  
He released his hold on Shinta's chin and got out of the bath. He quickly dried himself off, wrapping the towel around his hips and brushed his shoulderlenght fiery locks out of his face. He returned to the tub again, another towel in hand, to find Shinta staring into space, hugging his knees to his chest. Sighing, he half-carried half-dragged his brother out of the water, setting him on his feet and wrapping the towel around his slim body, rubbing circles on his back. Pausing slightly, he reached up and pulled at the towel that was wrapped around Shinta's hair, allowing a crimson waterfall to cascade down his back. Gradually, Shinta began to relax under his ministrations and leaned into him, resting his head on Kenta's shoulder.

"Why now all of a sudden?" Kenta's soft voice broke the comfortable silence. Shinta looked up to his face, noticing the hurt Kenta tried so hard to conceal in his eyes and voice. Kenta continued: "You've never said anything like that before. You never even tried to discourage my behaviour. You never objected. Never." Shinta remained silent, wrapping his arms around Kenta's waist and burrying his face in his brother's silky hair.

"I know that we are more intimate than normal siblings, but not many have seen what we have. You know that as well as I do."

"I know"

"Then how can you blame me for loving you too much? Is it even possible to love too much. I need you, Shin. I need you to be with me, always. I need you to be my anchor that keeps me down to earth. To complete me."  
He pressed their foreheads together, gazing deeply into pools of amethyst. He gently cupped Shinta's scarred cheek, tracing the scar with his thumb.  
"Coz you're the other half of my soul, Shin. Don't push me away." His amber eyes were pleading now, his thumb now tracing Shinta's bottom lip. "I don't know what I'd do without you. You keep me sane."

Shinta closed his eyes, trying to force his tears back. He knew all of this. It was part of their unique bonding. It was the reason they'd come this far. By supporting eachother. In every possible way. To be honest, he was quite sure that Kenta was the glue that kept him from falling apart as well. They needed one another. One could not survive without the other. Soulmates.

But why then, was he feeling so insecure lately?

He sighed and opened his eyes again to meet his brother's still pleading gaze. The thumb tracing his bottom lip was trembling slightly. Kenta was afraid. Afraid of losing his balance. Shinta leaned forward quickly to capture Kenta's lips in reassurement that he wasn't planning on pushing him away.  
Exhaling slowly, Kenta's hand moved to cradle the back of Shinta's head, deepening the kiss. He gently brushed his tongue against his lips, demanding entrance. Shinta obeyed quickly, softly moaning as their tongues battled for awhile. Pushing back reluctantly, Shinta looked up to see his twin gazing down at him lovingly. Once again resting his head on his shoulder, he answered his brother's earlier inquiery.

"I don't know why I feel the way I feel. I just know that the more I ponder my feelings for Shishou and you, the more I come to realize that those two feelings are totally different. I'm confused, 'cause I want to share what we share with Hiko. I guess it's all just part of growing up, ne?"

"Anou otoko." Kenta growled, causing Shinta to look at him again. Kenta looked at him seriously. "This is starting to become a bit more than a mere crush, ne Shinta? Flings don't last this long." Shinta blushed slightly, leaving his brother's embrace to put on his nightshirt and braid his hair. "I told you, even I am not entirely sure what he really means to me. I thought it was just a crush. But the more I deny it, the stronger my feelings for him become. I'd like to think I love him, but what if it's all just my puberty hormones taking my emotions on a quest to get laid. I'm scared it'll all turn out to be a fluke."

Kenta grinned, having donned his sleeping pants. " You have no idea how funny that sounded."  
Shinta rolled his eyes as he finished cleaning up the bathroom. Exiting, they descended the creaky staircaise and entered their small room. They unrolled the futons in silence, setting them up next to eachother. As Shinta settled under the covers, he felt Kenta moving over and spooning him from behind.  
They lay like that in peaceful silence, dozing off.

"You can't keep waiting for him you know. You'll end up getting hurt."

Shinta chose not to comment. He wasn't even sure what he wanted to say to that. It was the truth. Who could argue with that? He gently squeezed Kenta's hand and nuzzled even closer.

"Oyasumi nasai, nii-chan"

A kiss was pressed against the back of his neck.

"Oyasumi nasai, otouto."

And both were left with their dreams

TBC

The usual crap: review or I'll get really weepy and cry all day coz I'll be under the impressing no one likes my story

Anyhow, here're the reviewer responses(YOU GUYS RUUUUUUUUUUULE!)

**Half-breed-demon-fox: **Hopefully you still think it's interesting. Kenta/kaoru is for later chappies. Hiko/shinta's priority! Hurray!

**Rhiannon3j: **well, now you know why they had to go. Coz their unstable. Hehe. Rather harsh, ne?

**Bailyy**: Aren't they just the greatest? See me smiling like an idiot! I would put a smiley face her but don't like smileys. Meanies.

**Black Angel of Destruction**: hope this was long enough for ya! Smiley!

**Dante86:** yeah yeah, just keep reviewing, bitch! Being your lovable and fair sister, I will reward you emensely. Only one asskicking in stead of 2. aren't I nice?

**Rayna**: Well, it was very convenient, ne? Kenshin strikes me as quite an unstable fellow. He even refers to battousai as a different person. That has split personality written all over it ( wich BTW isn't the same as schizophrenia. I made that mistake earlier, but I realised I was soooooo wrong. Gomen gomen) But hell, a little insanity isn't gonna stop us from worshipping our Kenshin-sama, ne?

**Ecchipiro**: Well not exactly explicit, but still it's hiko/shinta. Hehe. Don't worry. In 2 maybe 3 chappies I'm gonna put some real action into it. I actually have some fluffy and lemony scenes written out for those two! Kawaaaaaaaaaaaaaaii!

**The 13th Jinx:** DON'T KILL ME! I know I promised to post this sooner and then didn't but I hope this will make it up to you. Onegai? With lotsa sugar? And whipped cream? And a cherry on top? Hehe

**Neori:** It took me a while, but here's my update. Hope you like it.

**Kenshin's Soul:** This idea really has a lot of succes. I feel very proud! Thanks for reviewing. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Written words**: after reading your review I felt so guilty about not updating I immediately sat behind my laptop and started typing like my life depended on it. Hope you're not dissapointed!

SassandraS


	5. AN, part of ch5 and new prologue

**!!Please read this first to prevent confusion!!**

Okay, first off, I'm sorry I've taken this long to update.  
Then, I apologize again, because I don't exactly come bearing good news.

No, I'm not gonna give up on this story, but as it is, I've decided to rewrite the whole thing.

Why, you ask?  
Simple  
I was 15 when I started writing this and as a result my ideas have evolved and some aspects just don't fit anymore.  
The basic plot is still the same but I guess at the time I wasn't quite able to express that.  
If that makes sense.

Let's just say that I reread the previous chapters and I found them to be too naïve and merry for the plot I have in mind. It didn't quite read like an R rated story. On top of that I forgot some details that will be confusing if I just leave it at that.

So I decided to change several things:

1)Hime will be cut out. I like her but in the end she serves no real purpose to the plot. She would have been the lead character in several subplots and then again those subplots would have no contribution to the actual plot. Hitoshi-san is the only OC I'll use because she is needed.

2)Kaoru will have no prior knowledge of the twins. I hated their reunion from the start and it lead to Shinta behaving OOC (him shouting urusai) and I can't have that.

3)I will explain more about Shinta's sickle cell anaemia. It has a purpose, that much I can tell you. Please keep in mind that even though I have researched on the matter, I will modify the illness to fit my purpose (again it has a reason). It's not my intention to insult people by portraying this disease wrongly. Just bear with me.

4) Some of the warnings I gave will not occur since Hime will no longer be in this story. I'll give warnings per chapter from now on.

More changes will occur but these are the most significant.  
I won't promise to update frequently, especially since I'm in a critical situation concerning school.  
But I can promise that this story WILL be finished. I don't do half work and I love this story too much to just throw it out the window.  
I'll try my hardest to update the first 4 chapters sometime this month.

To everyone who stuck with this story from the beginning, thank you. You rule (insert smiley)

Of course I haven't come completely empty-handed. I have written the first part of chapter 5 (a part of the past is revealed! gasp!) and the new prologue for the rewrite of chapter 1.

Again, reviews, questions and suggestions are MOST welcome.

Hope you enjoy!

SassandraS

* * *

**Just a teenage crush 5**

Ignorance is a bliss

_Kyoto's back streets were always eerily dark at night, the silence making the many small allies resembling a maze even more.  
Though tonight shouts and screams rose from the dark labyrinth. Amidst all the noise, the clicking of geta and faint wailing of a child could be distinguished.  
Like thieves in the night, a young woman fled, leading 2 small children by the hand.  
They were quite a sight. The woman was pale and her black hair that reached her waist was unkempt. The white kimono she was wearing had obviously seen better days and was smeared with dirt and dark stains of red.  
The two children seemed to have had their share as well. Bare-footed and dressed in torn yukata's they stumbled on as the woman kept running.  
The child on her left was emitting heart-wrenching sobs and appeared to be dragging a creature behind him that was about his own height. _

"_Hurry." Whispered the frantic woman, ushering the children forward. The child still dragging the creature, sobbed even louder._

"_But papa, they…he…papa's hurting!" His horror-stricken violet gaze met his mother's panicked black.  
"We hafta go back, mama!"_

_Forcing back her own tears, the woman sped up, never faltering in her step._

"_We can't go back, darling. Please just hurry."  
_

_She gave them a quick glance, noticing the creature being hauled by her son. She remembered so well how he'd begged for the toy, wanting the plush panther he saw regularly on TV. It's pink fur was almost unrecognisable from being dragged through more puddles than they cared to remember.  
The child on her right was unusually quiet. His head was bowed, covering half his face with his unruly mop of fiery bangs._

_She feared for him. He had after all witnessed his father being tortured to death just moments prior.  
She bit her lip.  
They were so young. How in the world were they going to understand the horrors surrounding their birth?  
How could she explain to them, her participation in all this? All her sins? And her attempt at redemption, which resulted in the mess they were currently in._

_Pushing these thoughts away she made another sharp turn away from the ruckus. She had to sort out her priorities. She had to make sure she could live to tell them the tale first.  
And any chance of survival relied on her 5 year knowledge of these quarters._

_Another turn left. Then right. Right again. Straight on._

_She cursed the way her geta echoed so clearly in the now silent street.  
Her son's heaving sobs weren't helping to put her more at ease either._

"_Hush darling. Just a bit longer"_

_If only she could reach more populated areas.  
At two in the morning she doubted many would still be awake, but she'd bang every door and ring every bell if necessary._

_Turning another corner, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. A dead end. Silently cursing she quickly turned.  
And froze.  
In the middle of the street a man was standing. Blocking their only way out.  
She looked around franticly, backing up further into the ally._

_The man regarded her coolly. _

"_No way out, sweet. Time to return what you've taken."_

_The woman glared at him, pulling the children behind her._

"_I won't let you take them to that…that hellhole."_

_The man grinned humourlessly._

"_Tomoe, Tomoe. For someone so intelligent you have an unrealistic image of reality. Certainly you knew it was only a matter of time before they would find you. Now you can give up the brats willingly…" _

_He didn't need to finish that sentence. He slowly started to advance._

_Tomoe bit her lip. She really didn't have a choice. But knowing what she knew, how could she willingly give them up? What mother condemned her own children to a life of pain and misery?_

_She backed up even more, panic rising in her chest. This couldn't end like this. Her panic increased when she felt the wall press into her back. Looking up, she saw the man still advancing._

"_Don't you come near me, you monster! You won't harm my children! I won't allow it!"_

_The man stopped in his tracks and chuckled lightly.  
"You honestly think you have something to say in the matter. Stop being ridiculous, woman and give those here!"_

_He suddenly reached for the silent child, gripping his arm. Tomoe screamed and tried to pull the child back to her, whilst keeping the other child firmly behind her._

_Starting to adjust his grip on the child's arm, the man noticed the child lifting his head._

_His blood ran cold at the sight.  
Two fierce golden eyes were glaring at him, framed by fiery hair that was dripping with blood.  
His grip slackened just as the boy opened his mouth and gave an ear-splitting screech._

"_LET.GO.OF.MEEE!!"_

_Tomoe saw his distraction and used the opportunity to smash her foot into the man's groin with all the strength she could summon._

_Groaning, the man staggered back, holding his privates._

_Quickly she seized the children and dashed for the exit. Fear gave her wings it seemed. She turned right, praying it would take her to safety._

_There._

_Hope blossomed in her chest as she saw the faint silhouette of a person further on. The figure was moving away from them. In the faint light she could distinguish a billowing cape._

_She opened her mouth to call for help…and found herself harshly being pushed forward by an unseen force in her back.  
Unable to keep her footing she fell face first into the muddy street._

_What happened? She felt confused. Why was there no longer any sound? She felt numb. Vaguely, pain was registered in her back. But it didn't hurt like anything she ever felt before._

_She felt herself roughly being picked up by her hair and thrown against the wall. Lifting her head (since when did that become so hard to do?) she stared into the face of the furious man.  
_

_A small voice in her head found it amusing somehow._

'_Guess he took that one personally'_

_The faint amusement was quickly replaced with dread as her gaze fell on the gun he had poised at her chest._

_His lips were moving, yet she didn't recognise any words at all. _

_So tired.  
Her head turned to the left where her boys were clutching her arms. Her silent son was staring at her, shock written all over his young face. Her other boy had thrown himself in her lap, speaking words she could not hear._

_Lifting her arms, she gathered them close to her._

'_I'm so sorry' she thought 'I failed you. Forgive me my darlings. I tried my hardest.'_

_Darkness started framing her vision. Risking looking up, she was confronted with another face.  
Sharp eyes regarded her solemnly, cape billowing around his frame  
And she smiled._

'_Please save them. My babies. Care for them. Please. Please.'_

_The affirmative nod made her wonder. She'd spoken aloud? But she didn't dwell on it very long. She felt so tired. _

_Leaning her head against the child in her lap, she smiled serenely. _

'_Shinta, Kenta. Please never forget. Momma loves you.'_

_And all went Dark._

* * *

**Prologue to chapter 1**

The room was small, with blank walls. In the middle stood a rectangular table where 4 men in long white coats were hunched together, quietly discussing something as if afraid someone might overhear.

Conversation ceased the moment a man entered the room.  
Four pairs of eyes regarded him in silence.  
Pushing his round sunglasses up, the man gave each of them a cool once-over.

"Well? Report!" he snapped impatiently, shoving his hands in the pockets of his white suit jacket.

One man cautiously approached him, shoulders hunched in submission.

"Pardon our intrusion on your busy time-schedule, sir, but we were told to contact you should any changes occur…"

This obviously peeked the man's interest.

"There's further progress with the subject? I wasn't expecting new results this quickly. It certainly is evolving quicker than all the others, but still I…"

The other quickly held up a hand, silencing the flow of words.

"I'm afraid there has been no progress at all, sir. Quite the opposite, in fact."

Again pushing up his glasses, the man growled irritably.

"Then what happened? Quit stalling, man!"

"It killed itself." A deep voice interrupted. Both men turned to the other 3 that had remained seated.  
The man wearing glasses regarded him coolly. "Killed you say. How on earth did a 7 year old kill himself in a suicide-safe environment with around the clock surveillance, whilst wearing a straight-jacket?"

"We underestimated the subject. Its psychosis finally drove it over the edge and resulted in biting off its own tongue. We were to late to save it."

Another man sighed and shook his head.

"And we had such high hopes for this one. The first in nearly 16 years to have been this stable." Another sigh. "Whenever this happens I can't help but wish we still had subjects 2 A and 2 B. They were perfect."

The first man grit his teeth.

"Don't I know it." He growled. "But unfortunately gentlemen, subjects 2 A and 2 B are no longer available, thanks to a series of unfortunate incidents, so we'll have to make do with what is left from the original subject. Tomorrow we shall resume the experiment with the remaining subjects."

Ignoring the protests he turned towards the door and gave a nonchalant wave with his hand.

"Carry on then."

Closing the door behind him, he paused for a moment, fisting one hand in his hair.

"Perfect indeed. If it weren't for those two…Nee-sama…you'd still smile for me."

His grip on his hair tightened, causing him to wince as several hairs disconnected from his scalp.  
Shaking his hand free from his head, the man stalked through the corridor, leaving the snowy white tresses to float to the ground.

* * *

Feed the author I'd say

SassandraS


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